How Strong is my Body?

The effects of severe sill corrosion ... You may laugh but one roadster I looked at did have the bottom of the doors rubbing on the tops of the sills. Cartoon from Lyndsay Porter's 'Guide to Purchase and DIY Restoration of the MGB', republished as 'The MGB Restoration Manual', both by Haynes:

From MGBs Made in Australia:

"FYI the damage from the tree was a dented/cracked aluminium bonnet (thrown away not worth to repair), dented L&R front 1/4 panels (I've panel beaten and repaired), a torn and bent soft top roof (thrown away), broken off side mirror 1/4 glass bracket.

"The bonnet cracked where it hit the engine filler cap (the bolt that comes out the top of it). The cap survived with no damage, engine still ran fine.

"Tuff little bugger!"

30mph full-frontal impact into a concrete block at Abingdon in 1967. Apart from the crumpled bonnet there doesn't seem to be any external damage aft of the wheel arch. Image from 'MG by McComb' published by Osprey/Motorbooks:

And another of a GT at the same speed taken in the 1970s, with much the same result. Image from 'MG - The Untold Story' by David Knowles, published by Windrow & Greene. (Just noticed this has V8 wheels!)

About as severe an impact as you could get, and the worst combination - car and large truck:

Spot the motor-cycle ...

... now do you see it? The motor-cycle was travelling at about 85mph and the VW driver was talking on a cell phone when she pulled out from a side street, apparently not seeing the motorcycle, the rider didn't stand a chance. The car had two passengers and the bike rider was found INSIDE the car with them. The Volkswagen actually flipped over from the force of impact and landed 20 feet from where the collision took place.

All three involved (two in the car and the bike rider) were killed instantly: